Follow Me up to Carlow

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Follow Me up to Carlow

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"Follow Me Up to Carlow" is an Irish folk song celebrating the defeat of an army of 3,000 English soldiers by Fiach Mac Aodh Ó Broin (anglicised Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne) at the Battle of Glenmalure, during the Second Desmond Rebellion in 1580.

Composition

The air is reputed to have been played as a marching tune by the pipers of Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne in 1580.^[1]

The words were written by Patrick Joseph McCall (1861–1919) and appear in his Songs of Erinn (1899) under the title "Marching Song of Feagh MacHugh".^[2]

Characters mentioned

• Brian Mac Cahir Óg Kavanagh, Fiach's brother-in-law (as "MacCahir Óg")^[3]
• Queen Elizabeth I
  of England ("Queen Liza")
• William FitzWilliam, Lord Deputy of Ireland
• Baron Arthur Grey
• Fiach McHugh O'Byrne
• Sir Pierce (or Piers) Fitzgerald, High Sheriff of Kildare (as "Lord Kildare")^[4]
• Rory Óg O'More

Performances

It has been performed by numerous Irish folk bands, including Planxty and Wolfe Tones

See also

• O'Donnell Abu

References

External links

• Sheet music Archived 7 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• "Follow Me up to Carlow" - Planxty